


Difference

by kittypann



Category: RWBY, Rooster Teeth
Genre: Gen, RWBY spoilers, rwby3, rwby3 spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-16
Updated: 2016-02-16
Packaged: 2018-05-21 02:23:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,299
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6034453
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kittypann/pseuds/kittypann
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Taiyang tries to comfort Yang after Vol3Ep12. Yang is having trouble seeing how things could get better.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Difference

“Hey, Yang,” Taiyang called, shuffling backwards into his daughter’s bedroom. He carried a try laden with a small teapot, jug of milk and teacup. Beside that was a plate of sandwiches, cut into uneven triangles. “I made you lunch.”

“Just leave it on the side.” Yang faced the window, her shoulders sagging forward. She angled her body away from the door so that anyone entering wouldn’t see what wasn’t there any longer. Taiyang obediently placed the tray precariously on Yang’s dresser and turned to leave, but stopped, hovering at the foot of her bed.

“You know, you’re going to have to eat at some point today,” he said gently, giving her a small smile. Yang didn’t bother to give him a response, but she heard her father sigh and felt her mattress shift anyway, creaking under the weight of him perching on the end. She peered at him out of the corner of her eye, brow furrowed.

“I’ll eat it later,” she said after a few moment’s silence in an effort to appease him. “Please, dad. I just want to be left alone.”

“I know,” nodded Taiyang as Yang’s eyes flickered back to the window. “I just… I worry about you, sweetie. You need to keep your strength up.”

“Why?”

The question took him by surprise. _Why_? Wasn’t it obvious why? How was Yang going to recover if she was eating like a bird? A corner of toast in the morning, a few crackers at night. It wasn’t enough, and he could see the recovery was already taking a toll on her.

“Well… so you can get better, Yang,” he answered honestly, giving her a shrug. “You just need to.”

The snort of derision Yang gave in response stung Taiyang, but he had no chance to respond before she snapped at him. “‘ _Get better_ ’?” she scoffed. “I’m not going to get better, dad.” She turned to glare at him, waving the bandaged remainder of her arm in his direction. “It’s not going to grow back.”

“That’s not what I meant, Yang,” Taiyang sighed, shaking his head. “I just mean, you’re tired, you’ll get better. It’s not the end of the world.”

“What does it matter if I get better _anyway_ , dad? There’s no school to back to. Ruby already left. There’s nowhere for me to go now _anyway_.”

She saw her father’s mask of optimism falter at the mention of her sister. Since Ruby had gone, Taiyang had barely mentioned the younger sibling – and not just because Yang was a reluctant conversational partner. She could see the worry and fear flash across his face before he had a chance to smooth his features and drop his gaze to his scarred hands.

“I just want my girls to recover.”

“It doesn’t matter! None of this is going to make a difference anyway!”

Yang turned her head back to the window. Frost patterns were cracking across the glass. The tree outside groaned as its branches caught the wind.

“You’re wrong,” her father said softly.

She peered at him again, the corners of her mouth tugged into a frown.

“It does make a difference,” he nodded slowly, “you all make a difference. Hunters, they make a difference.”

“I’m sorry, dad, but you’re just being naïve. I would think _you_ of all people would see that by now. Haven’t we lost enough?”

“That’s not the difference I mean, Yang.”

“Look around, dad! There’s Grimm everywhere, The White Fang are causing more trouble than ever, and we still don’t know _what_ Cinder wants… Pyrrha was the best of the best and _she_ couldn’t stop her. _Ozpin_ couldn’t stop her! What does it matter if _I_ recover? It’s hopeless anyway! We don’t stand a chance.”

“You’re wrong,” he repeated.

“How? Bad things happened and they’re going to _keep_ happening.”

“That’s true,” he admitted, running a hand through his hair and rubbing the back of his neck. “There’s a lot of… there’s a lot of bad things out there-”

“We’ve got generations of Hunters and things are getting _worse_. What kind of a difference is that?”

“That’s not the kind of difference I meant, honey.”

When Yang and Ruby had first left for Beacon, Taiyang had hated the quiet of the house. He hated every letter he received, his stomach clenching as he flicked through them, dreading the day an envelope stamped with _Beacon Academy_ would arrive; he dreaded Ozpin’s signature signing more bad news. It had taken him Yang’s entire career at Signal to come to terms with the fact he would be letting her fly the nest, and almost without warning Ruby was heading out with her. All of his fears were confirmed when the girls returned, Ruby unconscious and Yang a shadow of the powerhouse that had left.

Now, he would give anything to give Yang her fight back.

“You’re right. Bad things do still happen, but Hunters do make a difference. They mean something. They give people hope.”

Yang took her father’s words in before shuffling down her bed until her head rested on her pillow, tugging the covers over her shoulder. “Hope doesn’t fix anything. Hope won’t stop Cinder.”

“Hope is what inspires people to keep living, Yang. We hope for a better future.”

“And that means we all accept a lousy today.”

Taiyang sighed and rose to his feet. The bed creaked noisily in relief as his weight was lifted. “It means something. _You_ mean something, Yang.” He took two steps to the head of her bed, bending over her and kissing her temple gently. “You and Ruby.”

He was already at the door when he heard Yang’s voice. It was quieter now, tired. “How could you just let her _leave_?”

He could almost have laughed. If it were up to him, Ruby would never have left Patch again, and he was sure she knew that and that that was why she snuck out without telling him. When Ruby decided something was the right thing to do there was no way to turn her away from that idea. She was stubborn in the most wonderful kind of way, just like Summer had been.

He sighed. “Qrow will keep Ruby safe. You need me now, Yang.” He hesitated, one hand on the wooden door frame. “If I told Ruby she couldn’t make a difference, it would break her.”

“She’s going to get hurt,” Yang said, exasperated, throwing the covers off again and sitting up in bed.

“Qrow is with her. I believe in Ruby, and if she believes in her friends… I guess that has to be good enough for me. Ruby means something.”

“What?”

He laughed a soft, broken laugh. “Hope.”

“I didn’t _want_ to give up,” Yang confessed suddenly, her voice an echo of the way he had once sounded. He’d lost his team – his family – too. He couldn’t blame Yang for the way she struggled to cope. Taiyang swallowed, unsure of what to say. “But what chance to a bunch of kids have?”

“I hear you did a lot of good since you’ve been studying at Beacon.”

“Being a huntress… sometimes it doesn’t feel like anything is changing. Or it’s just too slow.”

“Yeah, I know. I felt the same,” admitted Taiyang. “But… on we go, I guess. I don’t think there’s an easy way to change the world. Eat your lunch, Yang. Your tea will go cold. I love you.”

Taiyang stepped out of the room, pulling the door closed gently behind him. _I love you_. Ruby had said that, too, and then she’d left. Abandoned, again. She _should_ think her sister was stupid – if Ozpin didn’t stand a chance, who did? And yet, there was a feeling prickling at the bottom of her stomach that maybe Ruby _could_ make a difference.

Funny. It was probably hope.


End file.
